Gradually Falling
by Marcipie
Summary: She wasn't exactly sure how it happened. Or even when it started. All Sylvia knew for sure was that she was slowly falling for her little nomadic pal and there wasn't a thing she could do to stop it.
1. The Egg

**Gradually Falling** **  
a** _ **Wander Over Yonder**_ **fanfiction  
by **_**Marcipie**_

 **xx**

 **This chapter: The Egg**

 **xx**

Sylvia had never really been one to display affection.

Up until now she's always assumed that to get what you want in life you need to be tough, hostile, and outright violent if the situation called for it. It was a simple way of living in Sylvia's opinion.

You want something? Punch the person who has it and it's yours.

But all of that changed when she met Wander. She found it was a bit harder to hold onto her aggressive tendencies when she was in the company of someone who actually cared about people. Something about Wander really caused her to stop and think about some serious life changes.

But then that stinkin' egg came into the picture one fateful day. Wander had gone off and found the flarbing thing while she was, for lack of a better word, having a life or death struggle with the doom dragon. Sylvia grew more and more annoyed whenever he insisted she try a gentler technique in dealing with the egg than her typical violent ways of dealing with everything else. She was far beyond doing anything _gently_. She was the toughest person she knew and she was proud of that.

For the Zbornak, showing any emotion other than her typical standoffish sarcasm was always something Sylvia never truly felt comfortable doing. But when her furry companion encouraged her to coddle the egg, treat it with the utmost care, and to protect it as a nurturing mother would, it was safe to say she felt way out of her element.

She was _nobody's_ mother.

But somewhere along the way during Wander's constant nagging for her to show some affection, it awakened some part of her that she had fought for so long to bury under her own brand of cynicism and wit. With the way she'd been living her life before she met the little nomad, she was surprised there was anything left to dig for. But Wander apparently saw something in her that he felt was important and she could admit to herself she enjoyed having someone around who believed in her.

Even with all the good deeds her and Wander had been doing, she still had her irrational temper. Oh she cared about her best pal, sure, but there were certain things that would really get on her nerves. And as she climbed the steep slope, she seriously considered tossing Wander down the hill and the egg with him just so he'd stop his incessant singing. Taking care of two problems with one stone. And it was about the same time that her last thread of patience snapped that she finally reached the nest at the very top of the mountain. Lugging the enormous egg to the edge, she heaved it over her head and slammed it with all the force she could muster into the baby's home.

Then she immediately felt a surge of panic when the shell cracked straight down the middle.

 _Oh my grub._

Her hands flew up to her mouth in horror. Had she killed it by accident? Had the baby been damaged in some way due to her recklessness? Extending her neck so she could rest her ear against the shell, she listened hard for any sound of life inside. What would Wander think of her now? Surely he would be furious at her careless behavior. He would call her uncontrollable monster and all sorts of awful names because that was exactly what she was. Then he would leave her and she would be left to continue on the same self-destructive spiral she was on before she met Wander.

After a couple of knocks against the egg, she was beginning to lose hope when there was no response and she pursed her bottom lip. One simple mistake and that was the end of all of it. She didn't want her friendship with Wander to end so soon. She was just starting to really care about the guy even though his goody-two-shoes act got old real quick sometimes, but she could never ask him to change. It was because of the way he was that she was drawn to him like a ship was to a lighthouse. She could try reasoning with him every now and again but there were times he would be as stubborn as a rock. And when that happened she knew she had no hope.

Suddenly a few answering taps echoed against her ear and Sylvia couldn't stop the excited gasp that escaped. The baby was okay! That thought alone was more than enough of a relief for her. She released one massive sigh as she flung her entire body around the egg in a hug. In her opinion she'd handled it all with a remarkable amount of grace, especially after noticing that Wander had watched her entire exchange with the baby with a squeal of delight and the largest grin she'd ever seen.

Maintaining her gruff mannerisms after such a display was easy, but trying to ignore the hard thump of her heart was a little more difficult. It wasn't every so often anyone would see Sylvia coddling _anything_. Recoiling sharply off the egg, she couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. She was supposed to be the indifferent one, not the one hugging everyone. That was more Wander's thing.

After blowing a steam of hot air from her nostrils over the shell, she quickly fled the presumably mushy scene that Wander was so dead set on witnessing. As she scaled back down the slope, she grumbled irritably to herself. Even through her disgruntled muttering, it was particularly tough to ignore the earth-shattering roar from the dragon and Wander's sudden shrieks of panic.

She froze mid-step on the slope of the mountain. "Sylvia! You were right! It does want to eat us! _SYLVIA!_ "

Every muscle in her body locked in alarm at the sound of Wander's voice and her heart kicked into overdrive. The instinct to protect fueled through her so fast it nearly left her breathless and then she was scrambling back up the peak at record speeds. Throwing herself in front of the baby was something she didn't even have to think twice about. A tiny voice in the back of her mind (that sounded suspiciously like Wander) was pushing her to guard the just-hatched newborn with everything she had.

Sylvia knew without Wander's influence she wouldn't have even considered helping the egg. Sure, she would've felt sorry for it, but it wouldn't have been her problem. She'd learned early on that to survive you had to look out for yourself and that's it. But after having someone in her life that constantly reminded her to be a good person, whether she wanted to admit it or not, it was starting to rub off on her.

After attempting to both protect and console the baby, and after the frightened dragon flew off with his tail between his legs, the Zbornak felt such a relief that the sudden appearance of a lump in her throat didn't even faze her. She swallowed it before she gave a heavy sigh of relief and Wander appeared next to her and gestured to it with a grin.

"Look! A little lump of love–" As Wander spoke the very lump he was pointing at made it's way down her neck and the baby she'd spent the majority of the day protecting squeezed against her and nuzzled her side. Sylvia glanced from the baby to Wander and her expression was almost dumbfounded. She smiled fondly at him when the realization hit her.

"–took the buck outta the bronco." She finished his earlier phrase and playfully dipped his hat over his eyes. She then wrapped her arm around his tiny form to bring him closer for a one-armed hug.

There were times Wander made absolutely no sense. She was almost sure there were times the guy had absolutely no idea what he was doing. And she was perfectly fine at not always understanding him but the few times she actually got what he meant, when what he was saying clicked inside her, sometimes it made her wonder just how smart he really was.

 **xx**

 **Okay. To explain, I adore Wander and Sylvia's relationship. And I thought, maybe somewhere deep in that unbreakable bond they've got, one of them falls in love. And then I thought who better than to give all those feelings to than to that stubborn Zbornak? So this little series was born. I wanted to go through each episode that has a particular moment or plot that shows Sylvia gradually realizing and accepting her feelings for our little nomad, Wander.**

 **Perhaps it'll be worth something once I'm complete seeing as I plan to write my very own ending chapter that isn't based off of an episode to wrap it all up with a nice red bow. I hope the first chapter receives well and I hope you enjoy these little moments between one of my favorite pairings.**

 **Also, I do not, nor will I ever, own Wander Over Yonder. Thanks for reading!**


	2. The Fugitives

**Gradually Falling** **  
a** _ **Wander Over Yonder**_ **fanfiction  
by **_**Marcipie**_

 **xx**

 **This chapter: The Fugitives**

 **xx**

She didn't care what anyone said – galactic sewage had to be the worst most foul smelling substance in the entire universe.

After finally breaking open that drain pipe – the one she'd been struggling with for several long minutes – she had turned to find she was alone in the dark alley. She hung her head and pinched the bridge between her eyes with an annoyed sigh. Despite her warnings, Wander had rushed off in the direction of town to help. Now he was probably captured and being taken to Lord Hater right that instant. There was no way the Watchdogs would delay turning someone in that their leader hated so much.

"He should'a thought of that before he ran off…" Sylvia snorted and heaved herself into the pipe's opening. She splashed messily, waist deep, into the sludge and couldn't stop the grimace that made her lip curl. "Oh, _yuck_ ," She grunted and flicked her hands to get rid of the garbage that had splashed up on her.

She ignored her conscious which was screaming at her to go back and rescue her best friend. She ignored the guilt burning in her gut and the hard twist of discomfort in her stomach. She even ignored the sharp thud her heart gave when Sylvia marched on. She was simply doing what was best for the both of them. There was no way, no how, that she could come up with another escape plan. Wander would just have to find his own way off this rock. He was smart and clever on top of it. He'd gotten along just fine without Sylvia there to be his bodyguard of sorts before they met. He would be fine on his own now.

Sylvia scowled and stomped angrily through the sludge. She tried to ignore that splashes of sewage that her feet kicked up into her face.

He should've listened to her. He should've taken into consideration how his actions were bombing every single one of her escape plans. He didn't even seem to care how much they were in danger by remaining on the planet. All he cared about was helping folks and being nice and making sure everyone was _happy_.

Sylvia slowed to a stop and the sewage sloshed around her in a sickening way and she tried _really_ hard to push the fact she was losing her sense of smell from the foul odor to the back of her mind. Wander may have been foiling every one of her escape plans but it wasn't like he would ever do it on purpose. He was usually very compliant and helpful but that was just his thing. He was always going out of his way to help someone and Sylvia had to wonder if he really couldn't control it. It was almost as if the guy had some kind of overactive help gland or something.

Apprehension and remorse were two emotions she hadn't had the luxury of experiencing often and she did _not_ appreciate the feeling. She clenched her teeth as she growled low under her breath. She craned her neck back and peered up at the ceiling of the pipe with narrowed eyes.

"Fan-fleebing-tastic."

It took a five minute sprint through the sewers before she began hearing the Watchdogs and her companion from below. The distraught tone of his voice made her tighten her fists in anger. She wasn't sure when she began to care so much – perhaps it had started with the egg a couple weeks before. Sylvia knew she was changing and knew it was because of her tiny companion. The hold he had on her was nearly enough to worry her but she had bigger problems at the moment.

After she burst through the drain lid with the power of a freight engine, she landed in the middle of the street with a loud thud. The Zbornak didn't miss the excited expression that overtook Wander's face nor could she find it in her to care that all the sewage came splashing back down on top of her the moment she hit the pavement. She was quickly overwhelmed when all of the Watchdogs launched themselves on top of her and she knew as soon as they jumped that she wasn't going to win. She'd been too preoccupied with the fact that Wander was _still_ giving her that oversized grin.

As she lay battered in the street, she began to wonder why on earth she'd come back at all when her very reason for returning stood before her with a large smile on his face. Her eyes roamed over his expression before she felt she could breathe easier knowing he was there with her.

Yup, that outta do it.

"Sylvia, I'm so happy you came back. I hardly notice that you smell like spoiled fish, rotten eggs, and moldy sneakers!" Wander squeaked out to her and his grin was so wide it was beginning to make her own face ache at the sight of it. And as she looked up at him, with her body hurting and nose burning with the smell of the sewage, she felt her heart swell with an unidentified emotion, maybe relief or perhaps something else, at finding him safe and happy.

Wander had somehow twisted her around his little finger. She was pretty sure that he could jump off a waterfall and she wouldn't be far behind him. Of course, she'd be questioning his sanity, but she'd still be hopping over the edge to save his sorry hide. She almost wanted to be upset by this knowledge but instead she could feel nothing but relief.

Sylvia wouldn't ever abandon him again. She didn't care how much of a softie that made her.

"Well," Sylvia grated out through clenched teeth and struggled to lift her head, "while I was slooshing through that pipe…" She paused and shuddered. "I got to thinking." In light of the way she'd been putting things on scales of importance throughout the day, she couldn't help but be a little sappy this time around.

"Help myself escape?" She made a low tone that indicated how low on the scale she considered that to be and lowered her head to the ground. Smiling up at him, she continued, "Or help my best friend." Here, she raised her head as high as her neck could stretch, her voice taking on a higher tone as she went. Wander's awed expression made her pause for a second and he pointed up at her with a growing smile.

"Sylvia, you're glowing!" He breathed and she glanced down at herself before she frowned.

"This? I think that's from the radioactive sewage." She couldn't help but grumble irritably. When he threw himself on his knees in front of her, his little furry arms wrapping tightly around her neck, she blinked in surprise before she smiled and curled her neck around him in a hug.

A few minutes later, while they were on their way to their doom together, Sylvia had to wonder just what they were supposed to do now. Besides clean up – that was definitely on her list of things to do once they escaped. But at least she was right where she belonged and she was almost at the point of not caring that she was handcuffed. She was walking with her furry little charge and she felt at ease knowing he was right next to her.

But then suddenly the most amazing thing happened. To Sylvia's surprise, everybody that Wander helped throughout the day with his silly little good deeds had returned the favor. All of the small things that he accomplished – giving a rock woman back her pebble baby, saving a balloon man's life from a sharp tack, stopping a feud between two ant colonies, and even helping the smelly guy tie his shoes – were all being repaid and now they were abruptly being thrown onto the garbage ship just outside the planet's orbit.

Sylvia was bewildered. She turned to her pal. "What just happened?"

Wander smiled knowingly at her. "See? That's the _other_ nice thing about helping folks! Sometimes they help you right back!" As Sylvia continued to stare at him he cupped his hand to his mouth, leaned a bit closer, and said softly, "But between you and me, this is the _dirtiest_ clean get-a-way we've ever made. Maybe we should help tidy up!"

The Zbornak quickly decided to pass off their strange escape as Wander just being Wander and to not question it. While the little nomad grabbed a nearby bag and began stuffing it with trash, she casually yanked her hands apart and snapped the chain off the handcuffs still dangling around her wrists. Reclining back against the small mountain of garbage, she relaxed with a smile.

"Definitely a good call, Syl." She told herself.

 **xx**

 **I'm really enjoying these. Sylvia is super fun to write.**


	3. The Good Deed

**Gradually Falling** **  
a** _ **Wander Over Yonder**_ **fanfiction  
by **_**Marcipie**_

 **xx**

 **This chapter: The Good Deed**

 **xx**

Sylvia wasn't entirely sure she believed in good luck.

She also wasn't too fond of "fates" or "karma" either. But if there was one thing she believed in it was incredibly well-planned coincidences. And she and Wander were certainly having a ton of those today. Every single time Wander attempted to right one of the wrongs he unintentionally caused, it would set off a chain of unfortunate events that almost drove the small nomad into ripping his hair out.

And Sylvia was on her last thread of patience.

There was absolutely no arguing with her pal and he was certainly not willing to give up until everyone was happy because that's just what he _did_. And Sylvia knew that Wander had everyone's best interests at heart but that didn't stop her from becoming increasingly frustrated with how their normal good fortune was turning out. She was also becoming a little concerned when Wander seemed to be growing more and more flustered with every good deed gone wrong.

And that didn't set right with her.

Wander wasn't supposed to be getting discouraged from doing good deeds. He was supposed to have endless courage and sunny smiles and cheerful enthusiasm like he always did. But as the day wore on she couldn't help but notice how drained he was starting to look, especially as they watched the missile being launched from Lord Hater's ship. Sylvia felt her mouth drop and she could only stare after it in disbelief.

"I don't know how but I am _pretty_ sure that is our fault." Wander mumbled from beside her. Filled with a sudden fire, she found it was easier than she thought to believe it would all be okay. Hanging around a do-gooder for as long as she had would do that to you.

"So what? We've righted these wrongs all day, so what's stopping us now?" Encasing herself in an orbble bubble, she had to say she was a little surprised to find Wander had remained in the mud a few feet away. It wasn't until they were standing apart, staring at one another, that she realized just how much it was all affecting him. He looked so _defeated_ and she felt a knot of dread drop in her gut when he opened his mouth.

"Sylvia, I've been thinking…" He began hesitantly and slowly began sinking into the mud. The Zbornak frowned at his reluctant tone. "Maybe, um, we shouldn't stop it."

 _Oh no._

Her first initial response was anger.

She couldn't believe even for a second that her best pal, the one who was constantly looking on the bright side of things, was giving up. Wander never gave up if he could do something about it and the thing with that was Wander _always_ found some way to help. Never had he abandoned an opportunity to do a good deed simply because he didn't think any good would come of it.

But here the little nomad was thinking that doing nothing would be better than _helping_. But as he spoke his silly little saying about starting on the right path and ending up in the right place in a tone of voice she wasn't used to hearing from him, she couldn't help but deflate if only slightly. The anger sizzled out of her abruptly and she could only watch him in silence while he continued to descend into the mud.

The miserable look on his face was causing her heart to pound mercilessly in her chest and when he got so far into the mud that she could no longer make sense of his words, she turned away. His talk of everything they could possibly do from this point out would get worse and cause even more bad things to happen had her wondering just how badly their luck must be to make even the purest of do-gooders want to stop helping those in need.

"Wander, with the day we've been having, that is entirely possible."

There was every reason for her to let it go. And in the past, she would've been more than happy to let that missile destroy the sun and not feel a bit of remorse for it. But with as long as she'd been hanging around Wander, she knew that strange feeling in her heart wouldn't let her abandon her companion either. But she needed him to do good deeds. She _needed_ him to help and be happy and cause joy (or annoyance) everywhere he went because it was what she'd come to expect out of this silly little creature she called her best friend.

And if her one and only pal was feeling a little down in the dumps, who was she to stand by and let him drown in his own sorrows and insecurities? No, she wouldn't allow it. Swallowing down her dislike for grand speeches, she continued in the hopes his spirits would rise up against whatever gloomy thoughts that were weighing him down.

"But I'm also saying that if doing a good deed leads to the universe getting destroyed," She easily slid her fingers through the bubble surrounding her, extending the palm, face up, to her mud-covered companion. "Partner, that's not a universe I want to live in anyway."

Several seconds passed and Wander hadn't budged an inch.

Her eyes widened as she waited. He couldn't have given up so much that he was willing to suffocate in the mud, was he? She was going to have to jump in there after him and pull him out. How long could he hold his breath? She wasn't so keen on finding out the lung capacity of her little nomad. Was he even able to hear her through the crud blocking his ears? She tensed in preparation for hopping in after him when suddenly his small hand flew from the mud and latched onto hers.

She immediately released the breath she'd been holding.

Sylvia didn't believe in good luck or karma. She had never been the superstitious type and she honestly couldn't ever picture herself tossing a handful of salt over her shoulder. But she knew, deep down in her gut, the very second Wander's hand found hers – that feeling had been unmistakable. Her heart had soared despite her best efforts to ignore it. Her pulse had quickened in her veins. The steady heat she'd found flooding through her chest at the contact was nearly enough to cause her to drop his hand in surprise.

But as she thought back to that moment – and how she'd reacted when the two of them locked hands – she had to say that maybe she didn't need to believe in it. Maybe all she needed was to believe in her little nomadic best pal.

And that was enough for her.

 **xx**

 **Writing these give me some feeling of closure for whatever reason.**


	4. The Pet

**Gradually Falling** **  
a** _ **Wander Over Yonder**_ **fanfiction  
by **_**Marcipie**_

 **xx**

 **This chapter: The Pet**

 **xx**

"Shoooould we go in?" Wander drawls curiously.

"I-I'm not scared, if that's what you're implying." Sylvia lies through her teeth.

"Good! 'Cause I'm just worried maybe somebody's in there and needs…help."

Of course he would.

He was certainly going to be giving her gray hairs before she even got old enough to expect them. If it wasn't for him she wouldn't even have considered going into that dark, abandoned, and on top of it, creepy ship. Just looking at it was giving her chills. But her pal's incessant need to help anyone or anything simply made him unafraid of the spooky sight because she soon found herself alone in the orbble bubble just watching him carry on to his doom like it was some kind of a carnival.

Sighing heavily, she muttered, "I got a bad feeling about this."

The further she got inside, the more she wished she'd listened to that gut feeling. Fear trickled into her nerves and she hoped that the thing that did this mess was long gone. Whatever it was that attacked the crew, it was dangerous. And deadly, if the condition of the ship was anything to go on. After watching the Captain's last recorded message, she felt as though she'd been thrown into an old black-and-white horror movie and everything she saw – the remains of the crew members, chips of metal hanging from the ceiling, and debris from who-knows-what – only cemented that fact. Sylvia was having trouble breathing correctly and her heart was hammering hard against her ribcage. Why in the world had she not paid attention when her little nomad went wandering off by himself?!

She needed to find Wander and she needed to find him _now_.

Sylvia knew that Wander most likely would be searching the ship for any survivors at the moment. And knowing him, he wouldn't have enough sense to be scared of it considering the little guy happily hugged the leader of the Watchdogs any chance he got. Her mind conjured up frightening images of Wander being dragged off, screaming and clawing at the ground, into the darkness or being strung up from the ceiling in a sticky acidic cocoon.

Sylvia sharply shook her head to rid herself of the thoughts. It wouldn't do her any good to stress over it. She _needed_ to focus. Wander was a smart and resourceful guy and wouldn't let some alien punk get the best of him. Plus, he hardly, if ever, actually got himself into a life-or-death situation that he couldn't get out of. At least, not one that she couldn't save him from.

Considering how often Wander got himself into trouble and needed her help to get out of it, that thought alone wasn't enough to keep her from worrying.

It was about this time that she came across one of those sticky cocoons. A cold knot of fear tightened in her gut that had her hoping and praying to whatever forces that would listen that it wasn't what she thought it was. The panic clawing at her chest had her cracking it open. The color of the remains – _oh god not him not like this_ – of what could only be Wander's tiny and defenseless body were melted beyond recognition. Destroyed. Dead. Without so much as a warning, he'd been ripped from her in the worst possible way. There had been several times she'd had nightmares of this moment, such as a time when she couldn't save him from Lord Hater or some impossible threat, but none were quite like the bone-chilling reality of what had actually occurred.

The pain he must have endured made her feel sick. The shuddering realization that she'd failed to protect him from something so gruesome was enough to make her collapse into a hysterical mess. The feeling of loss hit her like a wave crashing upon the shore. She screamed so much it made her throat raw. She cried so hard it left her eyes swollen.

He was _gone_.

There would be no one to go on adventures with, no one to ride in her saddle and hug her neck, and there would be no one else who _understood_ her on a level like Wander did. She told herself, all those years ago when she first met him, that she'd stayed with him because he was simply too small and tiny to be traveling by himself and was in need of some muscle. But now, she knew that was not the case. She stayed with him because she began to care very much about who he was. He was one of the fewest beings left in the universe who'd had more than an ounce of purity left and she had to go and let him perish.

The ache in her chest blossomed to an almost unbearable pain.

The Zbornak never told Wander how much he meant to her. She never told him how much she needed him in her life and how much better he made her. He would never know just how much she really cared for him, underneath all her tough bravado and snarky comments. Even those moments when she thought she might even love him.

Swallowing down her anguish, she remembered the very threat that caused her to lose her little nomad in the first place and she grit her teeth. If there was one last thing she could do for Wander, it was to destroy the alien that killed him. She wanted the monster to suffer. And that's just what she set out to do. Blowing the ship to smithereens seemed like the reasonable thing to do considering she wouldn't have to chase the thing down.

Easy and simple.

Leaving Wander behind wasn't so easy. The further away she got the harder it was to hold in her tears. Sylvia was never the kind to openly cry about _anything_ but in this case, when she just lost the one and only person who had meant the world to her, she felt it was only fair the universe allowed her this one chance to grieve. Gasping a bit through her hiccups, she paused for a brief moment before she sat up with a determined look upon her face. There was _so_ much Wander had taught her in the length of time he'd been around. It was almost as though she could even hear him inside her head.

"I'm just gonna have to figure out how to move on," Sylvia told herself firmly. Her heart sank at the thought. "Wander would've wanted it that way." She sniffed. "He'd say, 'it's always sunny somewhere, Sylvia, ol' girl, so keep your eye on the horizon and don't look back. _Never_ look back.'" Sylvia turned to put her back to the window and turned her nose up. It was for the best. In a way she was honoring her late companion by following his advice. Or rather, her rendition of what she assumed would be his advice.

But still…

Cracking open her eyes, she found she was unable to keep herself from looking back. Maybe she was morbidly curious about how the explosion would look. Maybe she was hanging on to a bit of hope that Wander somehow made it out alive. Or maybe she wanted to be certain that the alien was destroyed in the blast. But either way she was turning around and staring back at the ship despite her earlier declaration not to.

Instantly, her eyes locked onto a familiar silhouette in one of the windows and she dared to hope she wasn't just hallucinating. "Wander?"

Sure enough, her mind just wasn't playing tricks on her. Her heart faltered abruptly in her chest and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of him. Wander stood with a smile in the center of the window as if putting himself on display and nothing in her entire life, not even the time she bowled through a sea of Watchdogs to reach him, had ever measured up to the feeling of seeing her little nomad safe and sound.

But as quick as her relief came, it was immediately drowned in the pure terror that made her skin prickle when the spider alien tackled Wander out of view.

" _WANDER_!"

Anger and panic coursed through her veins and fueled her heartbeat into a thunderous rhythm. Wander was still alive. He was _alive_. Even though her tears had all but dried up, she felt what could only be a choking sob building up in her throat before she was shoving it back down. She _had_ to get back to him. Nothing else mattered at the moment except getting back to Wander's side where she belonged.

After finally escaping the pod and breaking back into the abandoned ship, she noticed it was a bit easier to navigate the halls with the giant robot suit she found. Through the panicked rhythm of her heart and the adrenaline coursing through her system (and the blaring alarm of the self-destruct sequence), she managed to locate Wander and the monster rather quickly. After attempting to shoot the alien away, it scurried out of sight. But when Wander launched himself after it, even going as far as to call it _Captain Tim_ , she had to wonder just what kind of crazy pills he'd taken that morning. Snatching him in the suit's grip, she scrambled to find an exit before the countdown was finished.

The explosions that erupted shortly after were spectacular and probably a sight to see from a distance. But with the flames licking at her heels, Sylvia wasn't too fond of it from a personal standing. Using the robot suit as a way to bust through one of the exits, she soon found herself floating through space before she was engulfed in an orbble bubble courtesy of Wander. Quickly, she put distance between herself and the ship just as the entire thing erupted in a large blast of fire.

Slowing to a stop, the first thing that Sylvia was rewarded with was Wander leaping up to wrap his arms around her. "I'm so happy we all got out of there in one piece!"

As he hung from her neck and smiled up at her, the Zbornak felt like crying again. He was safe and he was alive. The simple weight of him, coupled with his bright and innocent smile, caused an odd fluttering reaction in her chest but she ignored it in favor of bending her neck down so she could press her cheek against his. She wrapped her arms snug around her little nomad and finally felt she could breathe normally again.

"Me too."

"All three of us."

"What's that now?"

No. There's no way. He couldn't possibly have –

"Me, you, and Captain Tim!"

" _Captain Tim_?"

Just as soon as she spoke, Wander's hat began snarling. About a second later, the monster of an alien emerged from underneath it and Sylvia had her fifth heart attack of the evening. Leaping backwards and splitting the orbble bubble into two, she was left shocked and horrified.

Why in the world would Wander save that thing? It was because of that monster that she nearly lost him in the first place! After everything she went through because of that alien, she was left staring at it as it sat in the same orbble bubble as the very person she swore to always protect. She was left stunned into silence when Wander told her the creature was being trained and she was even more perplexed when he told her he _loved_ the horrible thing.

Sylvia couldn't help but be a little flustered with this news. She wasn't the type to go throwing affection around to whoever she met. She was made of harder stuff than _that._ She could understand loving ice cream or a favorite kind of fruity drink, or even perhaps a rousing game of punch the Watchdog, but she honestly couldn't fathom the love he had for this monster.

He loved that awful alien that dragged her through the halls of the ship? The monster that wrapped her up in a cocoon and suspended her from several feet in the air? The wild animal who made her believe it killed her companion? The same creature that was currently cramming it's tongue down the nomad's throat to get to his heart?

Sylvia paled. _Whoa, whoa, whoa!_

After prying the thing away from him and threatening to shoot it – which she felt she had every right to do – Wander's hesitant voice stopped her. Sylvia was at a loss as to what to do with it. Wander certainly had a knack for openly pushing his love and care onto people that didn't deserve it. And when he said he wanted to find Captain Tim a forever home, who was she to argue with him?

And it certainly didn't have anything to do with the puppy-eyed look he was giving her either.

So when they found themselves outside Lord Hater's ship after dropping off Captain Tim, Wander became teary-eyed and Sylvia couldn't help but put comforting hands on his shoulders and pull him flush against her chest. Because Wander was naturally a warm and loving person, he thought nothing of her gesture, and Sylvia was grateful for the fact he was too preoccupied with watching Captain Tim from the window so he wouldn't feel the quick pulse of her heart.

"Well, Sylvia, it's like they say," Wander was tearing up and she couldn't help but roll her eyes affectionately, "if you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours. But if it comes back, tries to rip your face off, stabs you a bunch, and then lays it's eggs inside your chest, it wasn't meant to be." He wiped a tear from his eye and Sylvia began to seriously wonder, with all his talk about laying eggs, if she needed to take him to get checked for parasites or something.

But as they strode away from Lord Hater's ship, Wander couldn't help but ask, "Maybe we could visit him sometime?"

He wanted to visit the homicidal alien that was living with their enemy? Sylvia didn't have to even think twice before she responded with, "Absolutely _not_."

And after the uncomfortably hard thump her heart gave when Wander nonchalantly twisted around in her saddle to lean against the back of her neck, she knew she was in trouble. That L-word was coming back to bite her in the tail and she was sure it wouldn't end well for her.

Not one bit.

 **xx**

 **I really enjoyed this one! Sylvia is finally starting to recognize her feelings and I think after this one, she'll be more aware of them. I hope you enjoy and thank you so much for reading!**


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